Yesterday was the last of my provincial exams, man it feels like a whole weight has been lifted! I have officially kicked grade 11’s butt! It’s crazy to think that I’m officially a 12th grader. It feels like just yesterday I was in 8th grade waiting to become a senior to get high school over and done with. I must admit though, although there were tons of up and down’s throughout the past 4 years, I loved every minute of it. I’ve made lifetime friendships, I’ve realized who I could count on and who I couldn’t, and I’ve experienced and learned things money can’t buy. High school has made me the person I am today, I have become one of the strongest girls in my school and I thank the wild journey of high school for it. I can’t wait to see what twelfth grade has to offer in September, I’m excited to graduate with my loved ones.

But before all that, we have to get through the best months of a teenagers life.. SUMMER BREAK! This summer is going to be the best one yet (I hope)! I had a great start to it. On the last day of classes with a few of my group of friends, we all went down to Garry Point Park and had a bonfire by the beach! It was just like in the movies haha! The boys obviously came late, leaving us girls having to set up the fire pit, food, and logs for us to sit on around the bonfire! It was quite the challenge, but we managed to set up wonderfully. Starting the fire and lugging logs was the difficult part, after a few tries we succeeded! Later on we watched the sunset, and shared stories and cracked jokes by the bonfire. We also roasted marshmallows, made s’mores, enjoyed some fresh fruits, and tons of food! Later on at about 10:00pm, the fire department came. We thought they were going to shut us down, but they were so incredibly understanding and kind about it, and understood that we just wanted to celebrate the last day of school. All they did was take my friend’s driver’s license and took down the information just in case something happened. They were so understanding about the whole situation and let us keep our bonfire as long as we were responsible. We were convinced they were going to make us put the fire out, I’m so glad they didn’t! We all got home safely at around midnight, and it was definitely a night to remember. It was such a great way to kick off the last day of regular classes! Despite the fact that we had exams to study for we all had a killer night with one another. We definitely made some great memories, and stories we would tell again in the future.

A couple days later, after spending countless days at home doing absolutely nothing, my friend asked to study for the provincial exams with me. He picked me up and we drove to the library to meet up with my other friends! We obviously didn’t get much studying done due to our incapability of concentrating in a loud environment. Later on we just hung around my friends car for a bit while we figured out what we wanted to do. My friend Vivian and I were fooling around with the buttons; I love playing with cars hehe. After a bit we drove around town and my friend dropped Vivian and I off at Steveston for some gelato, my absolute favourite!

In conclusion, it’s been a pretty great start to my summer! In about 3 weeks I’ll be off to Nationals! The next couple of weeks will be hectic.

Hi! I'm Mina Xue, Miss Teenage Richmond 2018!

Mina Xue, 15 years old, is a versatile, compassionate girl in Grade 10, Richmond Secondary School. After fighting against emotional struggle in the initial immigration years, she has been passionate about studying psychology in university and wants to become an art therapist. To be well-qualified for the career, she has made great efforts to make preparation. She has mastered several musical instruments: piano, flute, guitar, organ and pipa. Through years of dedicated practicing every day, she has achieved Royal Conservatory of Music piano Level 10 and is still working on ARCT level. She is the member of Richmond Delta Youth Orchestra, the School Vocal Jazz and Vancouver International School of Music. Her beautiful voice won her the third place in school singing contest. Besides music, visual arts are also her strength which will be utilised as an art therapist. She is an avid volunteer for the community. Firstly, she has been volunteering as an organist in Richmond United Church and as a flutist for its Dramatic Discovery Workshop for two years. In addition, she has been a long-term volunteer in Richmond Art Gallery. She also took great interest in volunteering in various sports events, such as Dragon Boat festival and Wheelchair Curling Bonspiel. After having lived in Canada for over 4 years, she believes the most important lesson she has got is to give.